Uncharted: the Nathan Drake Collection is more than just a remaster

Digital Foundry:

At what point does a remaster become a remake? Remastering involves improving video or audio quality, but fundamentally it is still derived from an existing source. The definition of a remaster in the gaming space is a little vague, but it rarely involves much in the way of new, creative work - it's about enhancing what's already there via higher resolutions and frame-rate boosts. But the release of the latest Uncharted: the Nathan Drake Collection story trailer demonstrates that developer Bluepoint Games is indeed improving and remaking swathes of Naughty Dog's existing assets, respectfully enhancing even incidental detail.

[Genuine-User]

Bluepoint have done a fantastic job with this collection.

[xHeavYx]

". The number of changes made to the original assets suggests an overhaul exceeding that of The Last of Us Remastered, with many of the improvements reminding us of the level of effort that went into elements of the current-gen versions of Grand Theft Auto 5."

[Death]

This will be a great collection for both existing and new Playstation fans. Way too many games and not enough time between both platforms in the coming months leading into the Holidays.

[ABizzel1]

I wonder if they changed some of the gameplay mechanics from the first to match the 2nd and 3rd. It's already a Day 1, but that would be the icing on the cake for me.

[KeeseToast]

@ABizzel
They did: "As the studio finalizes work on the collection, it will also roll in the assorted control scheme tweaks, gameplay refinements, and subtle mechanical upgrades that evolved through the series across all three games, bringing them into closer gameplay parity."

Source: http://blog.us.playstation....

[UnHoly_One]

I would hope they would get rid of the sixaxis crap in the first game, but I don't think I would count on it.

[XBLSkull]

It is more than a remaster, it's 3 of them. Even Halo 2 Anniversary is just a remaster, a remake is really something quite different, and the scale of visual upgrades is way grander in H2A

https://www.youtube.com/wat...

Is this game out this year? I'll probably pick it up on discount or something.

[WowSoChill]

Looks like more of a port to me, with the multiplayer cut out

#4TheGamers

[starchild]

I was planning to get this collection no matter what, but it's nice to see that it has been improved in tangible ways. I can't wait to play through these games again with the improved visuals, 60fps, 1080p and other enhancements.

[Cueil]

wtf are you smoking XBLSkulls? H2A has a completely new engine and allows you to switch, on the fly, between the old engine and the new.

[UnHoly_One]

Those of you disagreeing with me, you actually LIKE tilting your controller to throw grenades?

Don't get me wrong, I loved Uncharted, but that was terrible.

Same with Infamous using it to steer the big lightning strike move. I never found a Sixaxis usage that didn't annoy me.

[GribbleGrunger]

I find the motion blur comments really odd. Games that run at 30fps use it to give the impression of fluidity but at 60fps it's not needed.

[Forn]

I think motion blur, even just a little, adds to the experience.

[ABizzel1]

@Forn

I'm not a huge fan of it at all, though I will say just a bit is okay.

[abstractel]

Motionblur exists in real life, and it's extremely prevelant in movies considering they are shot at 24fps. I think perhaps you are old school and can't accept the new. Yes, 60fps does mean less mblur is needed and that's where a good developer puts in the right amount of mblur. Too much mblur is of course unrealistic, but even at 60fps some objects will move so fast that the eye can't keep up and you should naturally get blur.

So don't blame mblur, blame the developers who use it too much, or too little. Just like cameras, games do their best to simulate what's going on in the eye to display on our 2D screens and every year they get better at it.

[xPaYDaYx]

In pretty much every game I play on my pc, every time I'm in the settings "motion blur" is one of the first things that gets turned off lol. I simply cannot stand it

[alabtrosMyster]

I think it would be preferable, especially when things more really fast... but it's not a necessity like it is at 30fps...

[Cueil]

always turn it off on my PC games... always

[alvgamin4lif]

Bluepoint are great with ports and remasters. They are pretty talented.

[showtimefolks]

bluepoint are the best when ones when it comes to remasters. I can't wait to play uncharted collection making these playthrough my 3rd ones

and I would love it just as much. can't wait to see what the original uncharted looks like and especially the gameplay changes or tweaks. (BTW original uncharted was stellar looking for its time and will gain the most by these remasters)

[Christopher]

I'm not sure I'd call this "going above and beyond the usual remaster". It's a good upscale and hits 60fps, but this video comes off more as an advertorial than anything else as it focuses on pointing out things you'd normally not even notice unless they were side by side.

[Concertoine]

"...pointing out things you'd normally not even notice unless they were side by side."

That's the digital foundry way.

Overrall the type of improvements made aren't drastically better than say Tomb Raider's Definitive Edition, but this is still 3 games worth of improvements. That is very impressive.

Even Halo MCC had one drastically upgraded game (2) and the other 3 were basically resolution and framerate bumps. It did have multiplayer though.

[smashman98]

Blue point always does an excellent job

[x_RadicalAura_x]

I agree with you on this one loud and clear, Nicholas Cage.

[scientificreasoning]

This is going to be an awesome collection.

[XanderZane]

Yes indeed. This is what I've been waiting for. I own all the original Uncharted games, but I've been dying for a remastered collectors edition. Now if they can do the same thing with Jak & Daxter, I'll be all set. At least give us a new Jak & Daxter game. This is going to be great though.

[sactownlawyer916]

Already preordered cant wait!

[TheGreatGamer]

Bluepoint have done a good job here, definitely would suggest anyone who hasn't played this fantastic series yet to pick it up or for even those who have played through it, because I know i'll be playing through all 3 again with the remasters. I know some people will disagree, but I'm still upset over the lack of MP (even if they only added UC2 MP which was the best imo) but still worth the money for the SP as that is the meat of the Uncharted series

[OB1Biker]

Sounds great. But I feel instead of calling theses games remasters DF is confusing people AGAIN.
'At what point does a remaster become a remake?'

[donthate]

A remake is when the entire game has been remade including this important part, the game mechanics.

Gears of War:UE is more remake where practically everything has been redone from scratch, and even content added.

Whereas Uncharted Collection is closer to a port, because select assets been improved and everything else Eurogamer has discussed is a result of being on PS4, a way more powerful system than PS3.

I find Eurogamer to be quite biased, and they will scrutinize Xbox to death, but gush at anything Playstation as evident here.

Read this vague article insinuating things, but all positive and compare it to the Halo 5 preview articles.

[OB1Biker]

Seems to me all those games are remasters no matter how much work has been done they are still the same games but 'enhanced' as opposed to a complete new game just with the same story like rachet n Clank

[NeverHeavyMan]

Gears of War Ultimate Edition is still a remaster. Given that it is a touch up of 2006 title (lets keep that in mind) a little more effort went into prettying up the assets. But there is no such thing as "more remake than remaster". Each are separate and distinct properties. This collection is no different, despite how much more the art was updated in GEoW UE. If The Nathan Drake Collection is a "port", then so is Gears of War Ultimate Edition (which, to a degree, anything not re-done and ported up is just that, except with key fixes to the original source material, hence, a remaster).

Also, it's funny you claim that Eurogamer is biased. They've given both sides equal treatment (perhaps you missed Digital Foundry's work last gen). Not that that matters, though. This was a great read and wasn't being compared to console exclusive Xbox One games.

[donthate]

OB1Biker:

The distinctions blurr, but I see them as follows:

Port: brought over to new platform, some work done to assets. Resolution, frame rate and other technical improvements are mostly due to better hardware.

Remaster: substantial amount assets redone (like 80-90% of it minimum) including cinematic, recapture motion, sound, voice (if necessary) and etc. Game mechanics might have been tweaked minorly.

Remake: Redone game mechanics is typical, but freedom to change storyline, events, bosses or anything of the game i.e. the game may not adhere to the original game anymore.

Notice that Remake sort of blurr with Reboot.

Notice that each rely on the other as you keep going down the chain i.e. a Remake is also a Remaster.

That is why Gears of War: UE is closer to a remake, whereas Uncharted Collection is closer to a port. God of War 3 was a straight up port. Halo: MCC was a mixed bag, but it was mostly a remaster.

[OB1Biker]

IMHO Ports have no enhancement whatsoever (and sometimes worse than the original), remakes are new games using same story and everything else are remasters. Simple :)

[NeverHeavyMan]

You can see those things how you want, but the definitions are pretty clear cut.

A remaster is just that, a remastering of the original assets. To any specific degree is irrelevant. If it isn't re-done from the ground up, it is a remaster.

A remake, however, is a completely different beast. It is, literally, re-created from the ground up. Everything. All of the game-play, visuals, and content is brand new with no past work included.

Thus, no matter how much more Gears of War Ultimate Edition's assets were updated from the original source material, it is STILL a remaster like the Nathan Drake Collection. Besides, I don't see any reason to give one team credit over another. All of these people are putting work into making these things.

[jb227]

The UC is a remaster, obviously not a port. Your definition is irrelevant because actual definitions already exist. Can I say that my definition of a TPS is played in the first person? I don't quite think so. Ports don't just automatically look better on a newer platform, ports look and play the exact same. Remasters clean up assets and in this case, potentially adds extra minor modes.

Look at it this way, when a record company reissues an album in a different format with the same original recordings, it's basically a port because no change in quality has transpired. When producers go in and clean up the audio & mixing, it's called a "remaster" because it starts from the master copy and updates it with modern tech & sound trends.

I don't think Eurogamer is somehow biased towards Sony based off of your examples. They analyzed and compared the UC and saw significant performance increases which were irrefutable, they analyzed the Halo 5 beta and reported on the current state of its performance. DF exists to do these kinds of comparisons and it's contributors are obviously well versed in this. Even 343 didn't dispute their findings because they were absolutely correct, the issue people had was that they analyzed the demo at all, and coming from a consumer & gamer standpoint, blindly supporting a company and asking not to be informed about something is the textbook definition of fanboy. DF came back and analyzed the next demo released and reported on all of the improvements...I suppose that was biased as well? There's no slant to any of this because it's all tangible real life performance & it doesn't vary based off of the contributors personal game tastes.

[Omeganex9999]

＠donthate

You're gonna be disappointed with GOW then. I played the whole game, got a early code for reviewing it, and it's just a remaster with better graphics. The game is exactly the same, the characters, weapons, settings are the same. The only difference are the higher resolution, the higher framerate, new character models and redone cutscenes. How can you call that a remake? Same goes for Uncharted, I think they are basically on the same level, since a remake involves substantial changes.

[donthate]

Omeganex9999:

Gears:UE is made up from essentially scratch because EVERY asset is redone including texture, sound, cinematics and motion capture. They added content, and more importantly The Coalition tweaked and modernized the game mechanics.

They changed it, and the mechanics feel quite different. TC also took the liberty of re-imaging a lot of the cinematics.

Yes, I played it too!

Everyone can keep claiming it is a "remaster", but so far it does not look like a remaster to me. It is more a port.

If you settle for a "few textures" redone as a remaster, then it surprises me that people can complain about slightly higher resolution, yet let old textures slide.....

[FoxyGotGame]

@Death

I find myself agreeing with you on this one. UC Nathan Drake Collection looks to be worth every penny. With the port of 3 separate games and genuine enhancements,'Bluepoint Games' have made a mockery of 'Other Ocean' who ported USF4 to PS4.

Although after much public scrutiny & outcry, and a couple of patches 'Other Ocean' redeemed themselves. USF4 now performs as expected.

[DarXyde]

I'm actually glad they dropped the motion blur (so far). Feels a little superfluous at 60fps.

Without the multiplayer though, I can't justify buying it for the Uncharted 4 beta. That, and I've beaten all of the games already and there are a good amount of others games I'd like to play.

[Automatic79]

For those that haven't played Uncharted series I envy you for enjoying a remaster collection at this point and time. Personally, I played it and have no real reason to return. However, I do have friends that played it and are excited to come back to Uncharted. Kudos to all who will enjoy. Can't wait for Uncharted 4.

[criticalkare]

Did Bluepoint maked The Last of Us remastered?

[ritchi45]

Naughty Dog did the work. Lessons learnt during its porting aided with Uncharted 4s' development.

[Fro_xoxo]

I will definitely get the collection. Uncharted is my favorite franchise on PlayStation. .

It's good to know that it's more than a simple frame and res bump.

[slappy508]

This gamer is more than just excited to play this

[KingKionic]

Looking at the uncharted 2 video you get a complete different feeling then the titles comment.

There are parts in the ps3 uncharted video that actually looks better in terms of textures.

https://youtu.be/bn7xOHxXpp...

[Articuno76]

Having taken a quick look, I have to agree with you. It looks like those sections are mislabelled or something because there's no real reason for it when so many other sections favour the PS4 version in terms of clarity/visual punch.

I'm guessing a video editor somewhere is going to be getting a stern talking to.

[cd1]

I missed the Uncharted series at release as i didn't own a PS3 at the time, bought one about 5 years later and played all 3 games after we got Uncharted 3 with PS+.

To anybody with reservations about purchasing these games let me put your mind at rest, they are fantastic. You wont be disappointed...unless you despise 3rd person action adventures, in which case play something else :)

[lastking95]

I didn't realize it was even a remaster. It looks like a port to me and has no multiplayer. Maybe Gears ultimate and halo 2 anniversary set the bar too high.

[Jamesx82x]

I happen to agree about the port part. I just dont see the amazing upgrades to the visuals that everyone else see's.

Gears and Halo 2 are not even considered remasters by some, they are more like remakes. The graphics have been completely rebuilt. If those are remasters they are on a whole other level than every other remaster we have got this gen and put all the Uncharted collection games to shame graphically speaking. Gameplay and story wise i'll take Uncharted over Halo or Gears any day of the week though.

[ritchi45]

I agree. Gears and Halo 2 Anniversary are more remakes than remasters.

[JackVagina]

Props to DF, they did a really nice comparison video, much better then any other site.

[Jamesx82x]

I am loling at Digital Foundry during almost this whole vid. There are a couple nice upgraded area's but lol @ how they are trying to sell these slight upgrades so hard.

I think DF needs to jump off Sony's nuts because the obvious attempt at overselling these upgrades should apparent to anyone.

This collection is a must for anyone whos never played Uncharted but for everyone else, pshh youre better off playing new games that are releasing this year.

[trywizardo]

a remake changes everything , remaster can mean changing few things (like RE4 remasters) or a lot of stuff (like this one) , a remake can change characters . story , gameplay and a lot of things ...

[spicelicka]

If we have to argue about it then it's not really a remake. These improvements are great, but if they qualify as a remake then what's a remaster? I hate to say this on an Uncharted article because it's such a beloved franchise, but this is a bit of an exaggeration.

The games are brilliant there's no arguing that. But they're giving too much credit for a $60 collection that doesn't even have multiplayer.

[TwoForce]

I will replay all Uncharted francise. And Prepare the final of Uncharted 4 Thief End. " Just one last time " Nathan Drake said. And it will end in epic way.

[Dan_scruggs]

Nah. It's just a remaster. It's not like these games are getting the Halo 1 and 2 complete remake treatment. Be real people.

[FoxyGotGame]

This game is NOT a REMAKE like Gears, UC Collection is clearly a REMASTER. However, just watched the whole DF video. Wow, you really need these slow-mo type PS3/PS4 comparisons. Much of the finer detail provided by PS4 enhancements are easily missed in those trailers, until you see the full game on your HDTV.

Once you watch the video, the upgrade is obvious, any disagreement probably trolling or plain ignorance. As mentioned in the video, I too am curious as to this collection being 1 disc or 3? I would prefer 3 Discs if they have to compress the data heavily to fit. Prefer to have no compromise to video quality & audio.

Cannot Wait!!! /

[Mr Logic]

If a remaster lets me play a great game with more than double the resolution and 60fps then I will take that over a "remake" at the same 30fps it was at 9 years ago anyday.

[OldDude]

I never got around to playing UC3 on my PS3, this will be a day one purchase for me and my PS4. Looking forward to it as much as I looked forward to the MCC on X1. I could care less that multiplayer isn't supported, I just want to play the upgraded games.

[Mr Logic]

Missing out big time. UC3 is the best in the series.

[OldDude]

That's what I understand. It was a case of too many games to play and not enough time, the upgraded version will make me glad I waited.

[shotgun_ps3]

I love Uncharted (I'd even rate 2 above Last of Us) but the lack of multiplayer is a real sticking point for me. The competitive was pretty good but the co op was the star of the show for me. Think I'll just bide my time till 4 comes out and lose myself in Fallout 4 this holiday season.

[Sevir]

It's a remaster that does more than tick the boxes of higher resolution and frame rate. They've redone models, lighting, particles effects, textures, physics and a host of other things... This is what you call a definitive edition that utilizes the full processing power of the console it was ported to. It's not a remake like say Ratchet and Clank or Until Dawn or Ryse, but it's a Damn impressive venture.

[victorMaje]

Photo Mode!

[deafdani]

Nope, it's not a remake. The core game is the same, no matter how much they improve the textures and polygons and such. It's still a remake. Same applies for Ocarina of Time 3D, for example.

A remake is when you make a game AGAIN, from scratch. For example, that Golden Eye 007 game from a few years ago. So, this doesn't apply to the Nathan Drake Collection.

Whatever. Still picking it up day one. :D

[Mr Logic]

Too bad that Golden Eye remake was trash. I was hoping to relive some awesome memories in split screen, but it was basically a crappy re-skinned COD gameplay wise. (Note: I'm not saying COD gameplay is crap)

[deafdani]

I have the Wii version of Golden Eye, but have yet to play it. My wife gave it to me as a gift knowing I would love the golden Classic Pro Controller, not the game. She was right.

:P

Anyway, I wasn't making a point about the quality of the Golden Eye remake, but the fact that it is a remake.

[SmokingMonkey]

Uncharted is one of the greatest series of all time, remastered, remade...I really don't care.

3 Platinum's Incoming.....

[GrimmQuiorra]

Fanboys being fanboys. I'm surprised.

There is barely any difference whatsoever. The biggest will definitely be the framerate.

I will say though, the original Uncharted looks WAAAYYY better than I remember it.

I take back what I said when I saw the trailer for this collection, there's no need for me to try to finish these games.